KTF outperforms SK in 3G services

KTF Co., Korea’s second-largest mobile service provider, said yesterday that it has more than a million subscribers for its third-generation, or 3G, mobile communications service, four months after its nationwide launch.
The company started Show, their high-speed downlink packet access, or Hsdpa, service, nationwide in March, allowing customers to use video calling, global roaming and other multimedia functions based on faster data transfer speed.
The number of customers doubled in less than two months after KTF reported that the its Hsdpa subscribers reached 500,000 in mid-May.
KTF, the perennial No. 2 mobile operator in second-generation, or 2G, voice-centered communications, has been seeking to outperform market leader SK Telecom Co. in Hsdpa service.
SK Telecom began Hsdpa service in March and reported it had 380,000 customers by of the end of June.
KTF and SK Telecom have fiercely competed to preempt the 3G communications market, which is emerging as a new growth engine as the 2G market is nearing saturation.
Yonhap